Games: I don't usually like to go so long between updates to the
blog, but there just hasn't been a lot to say, games-wise. As you may have
guessed, I'm still hip-deep in Dark Souls II, and since I've been devoting every free moment I have to it, there hasn’t been a lot of time for
other game-related stuff.

If you follow me on Twitter then you’ve probably already gotten sick of me
talking about it incessantly, but in case you haven't… Well, the game is just
fantastic, and nearly everything I wanted from a Demon’s Souls sequel is in
here. All of the design decisions and changes to the formula are ones that I
like, and I've been eating it all up with a spoon.

At the moment, I'm just at the entrance of Black Gulch, and this seems to be the last part I need to explore before moving on to Drangleic Castle. There may be a few other parts to go through that I'm not aware of yet, but as far as I can tell, I've exhausted every other option and it feels a bit as though the game is starting to head towards a conclusion. At this point I've put in over 55 hours, and with most other titles I'd be howling for it to come to an end. However, this is the rare occasion when I'm genuinely happy to for the adventure to continue on, and that's quite a feat for any title -- I can count the number of times I've said it on one hand.

To be fair, I've spoken to a few people who have more love for Dark Souls than I do, and
I've gotten a sense of resistance or disappointment from them -- and hey, that's fine.
Everyone's experience is personal, and far be it from me to criticize someone
for liking something that they enjoy. But, as someone who felt very disappointed
with Dark, this sequel absolutely atones for the sins that I felt it committed, and all is forgiven.

If I have any disappointment about Dark Souls II (and believe me, there's not
much) it's that some of the bosses were not quite up to par in terms of awesomeness,
and some of the weapons that you can make from the boss souls don't seem that
great. Of course, I haven't tried them all and I haven't leveled the ones I have up enough
to be truly effective, but just a quick scan of the options gave me the impression
that most offerings would not suit my playstyle, and I ended up
consuming at least half of them to increase my levels.

Other than those two extremely
minor quibbles, I'm having a hard time coming up with criticisms.
In my view, it really is one of the few sequels that improves on its predecessor
in every way, and the experience overall is much more positive
than I had with Dark.

I'll be doing the Second Opinion review for @Gamecritics after Kristin turns in
her Main, but my final evaluation shouldn't come as a surprise. Unless the game
takes some kind of incredibly horrific wrong turn in its final hours, this will end up being a stellar experience that has easily eclipsed the
original Dark. I've got no substantial criticisms of this entry, and would also highly recommend it to anyone who's been curious about the
series but hasn't jumped in yet. It still provides quite a bit of challenge, but offers enough
accommodations and accessibility so that it doesn't feel nearly as
offputting as previous installments might have.

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in hindsight, don't you feel that DarkS 1 was after all an okay game? Like now that you've enjoyed DS2, perhaps because of DS1 you learned to appreciate the newer direction the franchise went after Demon Souls?

Perhaps after Demon Souls, you expected more Demon Souls in Dark Souls, and therefore you were dissapointed. But after Dark Souls 1, you expected not much at all, and THEN you were positively surprised, if that makes sense?

In hindsight, don't you think you treated Dark Souls 1 a little harsh?

I personally just began with Dark Souls 1. I also played Demon Souls till about 65%, then I lost my savegame, and didn't wanna go through the torture again...)

In actuality, playing Dark 2 only reinforces my feeling that Dark 1 was unfinished, unpolished, and not up to the standard i expect...

Dark 2 is such a vastly superior experience in every respect that it just highlights how much of Dark really wasn't as good as some felt it was. the level design is stunning, none of the game feels rushed, the technical problems are gone, and the tweaks to the formula make it a much more enjoyable game without nerfing the challenge.

Demon's? Still awesome. Dark 2? Super awesome. Dark 1? Not at all what it should have been.

As a person cleverer than I pointed out, it should have been called Demon's Souls 2 because that's what it is.

For a lot of people who liked Dark 1 better, I think the rough, almost amateurish quality made the game more exciting because you couldn't fully trust the developers to know what they were doing difficulty-wise. Especially after Blight town, with every new boss and area you would wonder if maybe this one would turn out to be impossible... Which made it all the sweeter when you beat it.

By contrast in Dark Souls 2 I always feel like the developers have carefully playtested each part and made sure it's not too unreasonable, and that removes a lot of the tension that I felt in Dark 1.

I get what you're saying. I guess it depends on what you like... I'm not a fan of that 'raw' feeling, and at times, Dark 1 almost felt like a 'devs-vs-players' situation, which isn't at all what i'm down for. they hold all the cards, ya know?

Understood about the lower tension in Dark 2. i generally agree, though i'm okay with it.. it's still plenty tense, and i felt much more confident that the devs took their time to craft what they intended.